the best of all worlds

I've been invited to a new writers group tonight (thanks, Mit!) that includes pot luck and an open mic "game" that mirrors the one at QRB a couple of months ago. I'm so looking forward to it for several reasons, including:

• a chance to meet new people
• an excuse to make cake
• a chance to share and hear some good writing
• an excuse to eat cake

I'm waffling on what to bring to read (ooh, maybe I should make waffles for tonight!). At first I wanted to bring an excerpt from the new novel--one of the more developed and revised scenes. Yes, I know, after all my ranting and kavetching about sharing drafts too soon and being superstitious about discussing novels in progress, and that's what I wanna bring. But I feel really confident about these particular pages (as opposed to the damned 50, in which I had absolutely zero confidence), and I got permission from my PIC to read them (in fact, she's curious about the response they'll get). Also, even though I've never met this group (save Mit), I innately trust them.

There's also Faking It, which, if I could just decide on cover art, will be released at the end of this month. I could do a kind of preview reading. Hmmmmmmm... I think my head's more into the new stuff as of right now. I'll probably bring both.

Good food, good company, good writing. That's what I call a perfect night out.
Oh, and don't get me wrong -- I'm out to win this open mic, too! ;) In good, clean fun, of course.